Sebastião Salgado at the Ara Pacis Museum

© Sebastião Salgado/Amazonas Images 

The exhibition, hosted at the Ara Pacis, in the heart of ancient Rome, clearly testimonies Salgado's deep involvement in the environmental protection of our planet. 
With hundreds of fascinating black and white images, "Genesis" portrays the magnificent beauty of regions that are still in a pristine condition despite the manifold destruction caused by irresponsible human activity. 






In an era, in which technology and progress seem to be essential targets for the 

© Sebastião Salgado/Amazonas Images

preservation of human beings, there still are communities that live happily, according to their ancient culture and traditions.
Salgado's message is poignant. It makes us feel that it's not too late to undertake strong actions to save and protect our marvellous planet, that we're still in time to preserve its beauty and our lives, and that instead of rushing to move continuously forward, we should slow down and wonder whether the progress at which we aim is worth such a high price.

© Sebastião Salgado/Amazonas Images

That's what I've been doing...

There's a reason for my absence from this blog. A highly important one.
I have been trying to be ready, but I know I'm not, and I never will. And though this moment seemed so far away, now the countdown has started...
To all of you, who will read this article, and have children, I say that it doesn't matter where we come from, we are all in the same boat.

To my one and only.

Michael Gerson

Opinion Writer

Saying goodbye to my child, the youngster

By Michael Gerson, Published: August 20 E-mail the writer

Eventually, the cosmologists assure us, our sun and all suns will consume their fuel, violently explode and then become cold and dark. Matter itself will evaporate into the void and the universe will become desolate for the rest of time.

This was the general drift of my thoughts as my wife and I dropped off my eldest son as a freshman at college. I put on my best face. But it is the worst thing that time has done to me so far. That moment at the dorm is implied at the kindergarten door, at the gates of summer camp, at every ritual of parting and independence. But it comes as surprising as a thief, taking what you value most.

A memorable lunch at La Terrazza dell'Eden

There are different ways to celebrate a special event. Particularly if you live in Rome and if the weather forecast announces pouring rain despite the approach of summer.
The graduation ceremony is an emotional stress both for grads and their parents. The first ones are partially sad because a long period of their lives comes to an end, but they're incredibly excited since a new one is going to start pretty soon. The second ones are very proud of their children's achievements but terribly sad about having soon to wave them goodbye, since in most cases their university is located thousands of miles away from home.
It's a matter of age, I guess, that draws a clear line in the feelings of those, who still have an amount of choices ahead, and those, who have already made them and to whom little is spared.
La Terrazza of the Eden Hotel in Rome has been the perfect spot to seal the end of an era and the beginning of a new, still unknown, one.
Its atmosphere is cosy like the one at home, the service accurate like the care a parent has for his child, and the view stunning and breathtaking just like the one that both of them -children and parents-have when they look at the future to come.
Yes, we did have a MEMORABLE time at La Terrazza. And as I said, much more than that...

For culinary curious, I had a delicate amuse-gueule

Free entrance ticket!

This coming Saturday, May 18, is "La Notte dei Musei".

From 8 p.m. until 2 a.m., the entrance to 30 different exhibitions hold in the major museums of the capital -including Macro and Musei Capitolini- will be free of charge!  

For more info, check the site: http://en.museiincomuneroma.it/

COMING SOON - World Press Photo 2013

This year, the international jury of the 56th annual World Press Photo contest has awarded 54 photographers coming from 32 different countries.  The hard work of these professionals in visual journalism has been divided into nine categories: Contemporary Issues, Daily Life, General News, Nature, Observed Portraits, Sports Action, Sports Feature, Spot news, Staged Portraits.

Photo of the Year 2012 is a picture taken in Gaza City on November, 20th by Paul Hansen of the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter.

The Museo di Roma in Trastevere, will feature the awarded photographs from May, 4th until May, 26th.

Opening time: from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. from Tuesday to Sunday. The museum is closed on Mondays and entrance is allowed until one hour before closing time.

You might also be interested in: http://roaming-in-rome.blogspot.it/2012/03/museum-of-rome-in-trastevere-on-sunday.html

Tiziano. A must see in Rome.

"Treat a work of art like a prince. Let it speak to you first." (Arthur Schopenhauer)

When we come to speak about art, nothing is more true than this quote.
Lately I have been visiting "Tiziano", a fabulous exhibition hosted at "Le Scuderie del Quirinale".
Forty paintings testimony the incredible rise and success of this amazingly gifted venetian renaissance artist and unparalleled promoter of the renewal of culture in Italy and Europe during the sixteenth century. His artworks, loaned from many leading museums, both in Europe and overseas, allow the visitor to grasp the exceptional nature of this talented artist. 
My favourite painting? All of them! But especially the portraits, such as the one of Pope Paul III

It happened today

23 April 2005
On the 15th of February 2005 Steve Chen, Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim - three former PayPal employees - bought the domain www.youtube.com. 
On April, 23rd of that year it recorded the first account and uploaded the first video. It was at 8:27 p.m. and the video was called Me at the Zoo by Jawed Karim. It was just 19 seconds of recording time in front of the elephant cage at the zoo in San Diego.
By June 2006 YouTube had already collected 100 million videos, and in the month of October of that same year, it was bought by Google for $ 1.65 billion.


Chapeau...to an amazing success!!!

QUOTE OF THE DAY

(Anonymous)

1975
1985
1986
1996
2000
2005
2010
2011

Although these eight storms should have turned me into a great dancer, once in a while I still slip on the wet floor of life.

What matters is to get up again and go back dancing!
xoxo :)

COMING SOON - Bruce Springsteen back in Rome

The Boss and his E Street Band will be soon back! On July, 11 the Ippodromo delle Capannelle will host the great singer and his band for a live concert starting at 8 p.m.
In case you can't attend the roman event, the 63 years old american songwriter will hold other concerts in:
Naples on May, 23
Padova on May, 31
Milan on June, 3

For tickets: 
http://www.ticketone.it/bruce-springsteen-biglietti.html?affiliate=ITT&doc=artistPages/tickets&fun=artist&action=tickets&kuid=458554

Rendez-vous with Helmut Newton

How I missed the opening of one of my favorite photo exhibitions is still a mystery.
But as I came to know that a Helmut Newton's photo exhibition was being hosted at Palazzo delle Esposizioni, I couldn't avoid to plan a visit. Immediately!
My stubbornness did not care whether the day I chose was the ideal one. And it wasn't, of course. The new Pope was going to hold his first Mass; thousand of people were participating to the annual roman marathon; most part of the city was closed to car traffic!
I had to park quite far away, but I made it. I left my car in the area around Circo Massimo,

Sunday's walk through art

As I said, I spent a week lying in bed. I rested, no doubt, but as soon as I recovered, I needed some fresh air.
Unfortunately (or fortunately?), on Sunday no car was allowed within the green area, which practically coincides with the entire city. So I wore a comfortable pair of sneakers and...went out.
My Sunday walk included:

Bakery House sequel

After a very busy morning and a quick stop at the Said Restaurant (which I found out does not serve lunch anymore), I decided to introduce my daughter to the Bakery House, where I had a brunch a few days ago (http://roaming-in-rome.blogspot.it/2013/03/bakery-house.html).

This post is just to confirm my first impression about this place;

Bakery House

After a week spent in bed, fighting against a horrible flu, I finally got the best of it just before the weekend started.
And what better than meeting a couple of friends and recovering all my energies with a nice brunch at the Bakery House?

Ten blocks of art

If it wasn't because I wanted to have breakfast at the newly opened Bakery House, I would have probably missed the chance to (re)take a walk in the beautiful "quartiere Coppedé".

Entrance to the "Spider Building"

In the area between Piazza Buenos Aires and Via Tagliamento are numerous buildings, fountains, arches and sculptures, that mix different art styles. 
The project to create a new residential district was entrusted to Gino Coppedé in 1913.
Coppedé was an expert in wood carving, and he perfectly mastered the styles, which were most popular in the early twentieth century, such as Art Nouveau and Liberty, as well as the Italian repertoire of past centuries, in particular the Middle Ages, Mannerism and Baroque.
The result is definitely unique. 

I would suggest to start the visit from the main entrance, in Via Tagliamento, where an arch, connecting two buildings, leads to the heart of the district, Piazza Mincio, where the "Fontana delle rane" (The Frogs Fountain) is located.

Chaperoning during Milan Fashion Week

Never ever I would have imagined how stressful would have been following a fashion blogger schedule for a whole week!
All these girls deserve an honorable mention: they jump from a catwalk to the next, take hundreds of pictures meanwhile, have lunch in twenty minutes and dinner in half an hour, and, despite the icy temperatures, walk around dressed as I would be only in mid-August. 

But chaperoning has its good sides. It doesn't require a perfect make-up and by snowy weather, wearing comfortable boots is allowed! And so I did, while enjoying the chance to live the fashion world , and its protagonists, from a closer distance than ever. And this is how I bumped into three fashion icons of my generation:

Anna Dello Russo (editor-at-large and consultant of Vogue Japan)

COMING SOON

TIZIANO 5 March-16 June 2013 
The upcoming exhibition at Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome is conceived as to ideally think of the major role of the venetian painting in the renewal of Italian and European cultures.
A path, which is carried out through the analysis of the works of the major protagonists of modern pictorial revolution, such as Antonello da Messina, Giovanni Bellini, Lorenzo Lotto, Tintoretto and, of course, Tiziano Vecellio (1485-1576), highly known and admired in the period between the fourteenth and fifteenth century.
His activity took primarily  place in Venice and in Urbino, and he became so famous that Ariosto mentioned him in his poem, "Orlando Furioso", published in 1532.



You might also be interested in: 
http://roaming-in-rome.blogspot.it/2012/10/paintings-fountains-and-hard-rock.html

This past year...

...I fell in love with...
- Mini Cooper Countryman
- Ladurée new shop in Rome
- Weimaraner dogs
- thefashionsatellite.squarespace.com blog 
- Caffé Propaganda and Babington's
- Kiehl's skin care products
- Laura Tonatto home fragrances
- scalp massage



...and I never stopped loving...
- Maldives and traveling in general
  (definitely my favorite activity!!)
- apple crumble 
- showering with boiling water in winter mornings
- youth, youngsters and wise old people
- Christmas with my family
- sun rays shining through my living-room window
- Rome, Paris, New York and Capri
- springtime
- Impressionism and portraits 


...and what about you?
I hope your list is going to be longer than mine, and I wish a pleasant Valentine's day to all of you ! xoxo

I blew on my blog's first birthday candle

A year has gone since I sat  in front of my computer and wrote the first post.
Without this blog, I would have forgotten most of the things I did, and when. 
Without this blog, I could not remember what I saw, who I met, where I went with whom.
During this past year, I have been learning a few of the many secrets of blogging, though there's still much I have to discover.
But I take it easy. 
I keep it easy.
Cause I don't want my blog to become a task. A duty I have to perform. 
I want my blog to be a pleasure, a relaxing moment during which I share part of my life with all those who follow me, or bump into it by chance and think "Hey, this post's interesting!" for whatever reason, and maybe a week later come back to see what's new.
To all of you, who keep alive my little passion, I am grateful and wish all the best.
And of course I hope, you'll stay tuned!!! xoxo

A Saturday with the Brueghels at Chiostro del Bramante

There is nothing that fascinates me more than a painting. The capability of reproducing an image on a canvas can be a matter of technique, but some paintings, transcending the mere subject of the picture, communicate an atmosphere or a feeling, or capture a special moment. These last testimony that the artist's mastery of the brush is so thorough as to dominate it, subjecting it to the service of his own inspiration. 

The Brueghel family was indeed a dynasty of talented artists, active between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

COMING SOON

"Il cammino di Pietro" is the title of the exhibition hosted at Castel Sant'Angelo from tomorrow until May, 1st.
Its intent is to retrace Saint Peter's life through the paintings and the sculptures, that, from the Middle Age to the nineteenth century, were dedicated to him. The purpose is to eliminate the distance that separates us from the events documented in the Gospels.
The choice of Saint Peter is obviously not accidental. The first Pope of the Christianity was indeed  a restless man, prey of doubt and uncertainty, and for this reason he embodies, more than anyone else, the idea of Faith in all its aspects. It will be therefore easy for both believers and non-believers, to identify with him and with his "journey" towards faith.
The visitors might take the chance to admire two other important paintings such as " Consegna delle chiavi" by Il Perugino and "Crocifissione di Pietro" by Il Caravaggio, kept respectively in The Sistine Chapel and in the church of Santa Maria del Popolo, located in the homonymous square.
Castel Sant'Angelo.com

COMING SOON

Fashion winks at culture. If on one side, Fendi is going to sponsor the restoration of the Trevi fountain in Rome, on the other, Tod's (Diego Della Valle) is going to finance the one of the Colosseum with 25 million euros. 

But while waiting for the works to begin, all major Italian stylists are very busy in finalizing the latest details of their coming catwalk. 
On February, 20th the Milan Fashion Week will indeed officially open its doors to buyers, fashion addicts and a few, very selected Special Guests.

Here's the calendar of the major events:
Feb., 20: Gucci (2.00 p.m.) -  Alberta ferretti (5.00 p.m.)
Feb., 21: Fendi (12.30 a.m.) - Antonio Marras (3.00 p.m.) - Prada (6 p.m.)
Feb., 22: Etro (11.30 a.m.) - Blumarine (3 p.m.) - Versace (7.00 p.m.)
Feb., 23: Bottega Veneta (9.30 a.m.) -Ermanno Scervino (11.30 a.m.) -Emilio Pucci (7 p.m.)
Feb., 24: Dolce e Gabbana (4.00 p.m.) - Missoni (4.00 p.m) - Ferragamo (6 p.m.)
Feb., 25: Giorgio Armani (11 a.m.) - Gianfranco Ferre' (1.00 p.m.)
Feb., 26: New Designers

Have fun!!! :)

A good laugh prolongs life

Take a look at this car

If you haven't noticed anything odd, look more closely...

Some people are fabulous: they never lose their sense of humor...

...and without knowing you, they brighten out your life for a moment!

Romeo Chef and Baker

Located in the very popular shopping area near Via Cola di Rienzo, and provided of a strategic car park right next door, Romeo Chef & Baker has quickly achieved great popularity, mostly thanks to the combined strengths of its creators: Alessandro and Pier Luigi Roscioli, Fabio Spada and Cristina Bowerman. All of them are very interesting people with a fascinating background, sometimes begun miles away from the food & beverage field.

Rome Fashion Week is in full swing

The bi-annual Rome Fashion Week (also known as Alta Moda Roma) is one of the major fashion events in Rome in January and July. The event creates innumerable opportunities for the meeting between historic Italian fashion houses

Porto Fluviale

If there's a business that knows no débacle in Rome, that's the catering one. Non-traditional restaurants and cafés are always packed, and reservations are a must to have a seat granted. Despite the economical crisis, Romans do not give up the pleasure of (good) food.
For this reason, numerous are the newly opened restaurants, bakeries and patisseries in the eternal city, (which I can't wait to test). 

On my weekly way to Eataly, I stopped at Porto Fluviale, for which the label "restaurant" is quite diminutive. According to its menu and to its opening hours (from 10.30 am to 02.00 am), Porto Fluviale is indeed a stylish tavern, a pizzeria, a snack-bar, a tea-room, a meeting point for a drink... 

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Unexceptionable words, those spoken by Captain Jack Sparrow...

...but keeping life simple is not always THAT easy, don't you think?

The origin of the (bizarre) names of Roman roads

The last book of Willy Pocino is absolutely amusing, curious and fascinating.
As a writer, editor and lover of the roman culture in its various aspects, Pocino investigates hundreds of street names, of yesterday and today, that seem the product of the imagination of a joker, and instead actually exist or have existed. 
He analyzes each of them, explaining etimology, stories, customs and legends that haven given rise to an odonomy, the Roman one, which never ceases to amaze.

COMING SOON

Sinéad O'Connor

The event is not exactly so close, but if you want to assure you a seat at her live concert, you must hurry. 
Sinéad O' Connor is indeed one of the artists that have contributed to the change of European pop music in the '80s and '90s.
An extraordinary vocal talent coming back to present her latest album "How About I Be Me (and You Be You)?".
The Irish singer will open her live tour at the Barbican Hall in London on March, 27 and will be hosted at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome on April, 7.
For tickets visit:
 www.listicket.it   or www.auditorium.com

A year later

Same pics taken a year away from each other. No doubt that this year, winter temperatures have been much milder.

2013

A fascinating corner in Saint Vincent

It is the second time that I choose this cosy and romantic restaurant for a relaxed get together with my family. Sitting all together at a table set with care, and enjoying the food and the wine in a pleasant ambience is the perfect start for a family reunion.

According to its name, the restaurant "Le Grenier" was an ancient barn, of which it keeps bales of hay, old farm equipments and a wonderful fireplace.

"Epifania, tutte le feste le porta via..."

According to the christian Bible, on the 6th of January, the three wise kings visited infant Jesus, who was also baptized by St. John this same day.

In Italy it is a national holiday, that marks the end of the Christmas vacations and the beginning of the Carnival season.
The night of the 5th, children hang one of their socks (the biggest and longest one, guess why?) by the fireplace or out of a window, waiting for "la Befana", who fills it with any sort of candy, while visiting their house. 

A sweet encouragement for kids, who return to school the next day.
And although I am not a student anymore, I have nonetheless received my amount of chocolate and candies

and even a two-years subscription to my favorite magazine!

The 3 Fs of my Christmas holidays

I am just back from a wonderful relaxing end of the year: a time for...

 Friends
(Just before they flew to NYc to welcome 2013 and send me this amusing picture while in front of Carrie Bradshaw's house).